


None of this is a Coincidence

by Kitty_Yoonmin



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Soulmates, yunsan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29473773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitty_Yoonmin/pseuds/Kitty_Yoonmin
Summary: Everyone has someone they are destined to spend their lives with. Everyone is born with a soulmark on their body. When they first met each other, Yunho and San were sure that they were destined to spend their eternity together. They really were sure.
Relationships: Choi San/Jeong Yunho
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	None of this is a Coincidence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sansapollo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sansapollo/gifts).



> This work is a birthday present for my lovely, talented, funny, smart, adorable, smart, kind and amazingly humble friend Cherry! I asked her about a month ago, if she could have any fic written for her, what her favorite thing she would want would be - or at least something along those lines gjsdlfks i tried to sound mysterious and it did not work, lots of confusion but we worked it out. Anyways, she told me how much she loved the idea of soulmate au's, so here i am, creating something i've never tried before. Here's to hoping it doesn't suck!
> 
> Anyways, a big big big happy birthday to you! I love you, and you are absolutely the best. I know i posted this a day too early, but i got excited and couldn't wait jgkdhg sorry! <3 
> 
> Disclaimer though, honestly, I don’t know the order in which Ateez joined KQ – I know Hongjoong came first, and then Yunho, but the rest is a mystery to me. I did a quick Google search and came up with nothing, so I just went with what I thought would suit the story the best. I did however see something about a ninth trainee/possible member, who ultimately didn’t make the final cut, but since I know just about nothing about him, I will not be including him in this. 
> 
> And yes, the lyrics included in the beginning and the end are from DNA by BTS, cause i love them, i love the song and it fit beautifully here (and so is the title but shhh).

_At first sight, I could recognize you,_ _  
As if we were calling for each other,  
The DNA in my blood vessels tell me,  
That it's you I was looking all over for._

Everyone had a soulmate. Someone that they were destined to spend their lives with. When a person was born, they were born with a soulmark on their body. This mark would mark the first place that their soulmate touched them and would light up when it happened for the first time. After having touched your soulmate for the first time, the soulmark would change color, from its subtle nude color, to a more prominent pink-ish color. Most people were born with soulmarks on various parts of their arms and hands. When Yunho was born, his parents were somewhat concerned. Their baby boy had been born with a tiny little soulmark on his chest. Soulmarks were considered somewhat sacred, and for someone’s first touch to be located on the chest could easily been seen as scandalous. Throughout all of his life, Yunho was taught to act as though his soulmark was located on his shoulder, meaning he always had to cover his shoulders. No tank tops during the summer, no going shirtless at the beach. He wasn’t embarrassed by the location of his soulmark, but he could sympathize with his parents’ concerns.

Time went by, and Yunho never met his soulmate. He had been present when several of his friends and classmates had found theirs in various different scenarios, but Yunho’s own soulmate remained a mystery. The time came, where Yunho had to say goodbye to his parents. He had passed his audition and were to start a new life as a trainee for an entertainment company in Seoul. Meeting the other trainees had been one of Yunho’s favorite parts. When he came to Seoul, it was just him and a guy named Hongjoong. The two of them hit it off pretty fast and became great friends. Over the next couple of months, five other trainees joined them. First a tall guy with a somewhat deep voice named Mingi joined them. Mingi was Yunho’s age, something he enjoyed very much. The next trainee to join them were Jongho, their youngest. Shortly after Jongho had joined, two trainees came together, which was somewhat unusual. Wooyoung and Yeosang were their names, both of whom were also Mingi and Yunho’s age. They soon learned that the two of them were soulmates and had found each other at their previous company – Big Hit Entertainment. Months went by before the next trainee joined them. This time they were joined by a guy named Seonghwa, who was the same age as Hongjoong. Hongjoong had instantly been pleased to finally have someone he shared birthyear with – something Jongho would be sulking about for weeks to come no doubt, as he was now the only on left who did not have someone in their trainee group who had been born the same year as him. It hadn’t even been 10 minutes since Seonghwa walked through the door and into their practice room, before they all bore witness to Hongjoong and Seonghwa’s respective soulmarks lighting up after Hongjoong had placed a hand on Seonghwa’s arm. A small gesture that had surely been meant as a friendly one, turned out to be the thing that would reveal their soulmates so shortly after meeting. Yunho had been happy on Hongjoong’s behalf. He deserved to find someone, his other half, if you would. However, he couldn’t help the feeling of dread somewhat taking over, as he was once again reminded that he did not have anyone. Not yet at least.

As time went by, the seven of them training together, eating together and living together, they all grew closer. Yunho had shared with the rest of the boys one night, after a long a grueling dance practice that he had what was considered a scandalous soulmark, as it was placed on his chest. None of them judge him though. They all seemed to somehow understand his inner turmoil, even though none of them were in the same shoes as he. They truly were like brothers. Summer came and went, and as winter began knocking on their door, the seven boys were joined by the eight, and final trainee. His name was San, and he came from a small island just south of the coast of South Korea. They all instantly loved him, as he was probably one of the most adorable fluffballs they had ever come across. Yunho had felt an inexplicable pull towards the slightly younger male. This feeling was what Yunho had always imagined meeting your significant other would feel like. The way San’s eyes lit up as his own eyes landed upon Yunho’s figure made him think that the other two had felt the connection. It was impossible that they weren’t meant for each other. As San made his way into the practice room to properly greet everyone, the boy tripped over his own shoelace, and fell face first to the ground. As he closed his eyes, desperately trying to will away the pain he knew would come, he felt his own body stop midair, as a pair of warm and strong arms caught him. His breath hitches, as the other’s hand made contact with his arm, fully expecting there to be some sort of reaction. But there was nothing. San steadies himself, holding on to the others arms and looked into his eyes. They both notices. It was as though sparks were flying, but nothing had happened. Neither could hide their disappointment. It was hard to keep the tears at bay, but San refused to cry. He didn’t know what he was thinking. Why would anything happen? He knew that he had been born without a soulmark, and he knew that the possibility of it appearing out of nowhere like that was pretty much zero. Yunho too looked disappointed, as he looked down at where San’s hand was holding onto his arm. That wasn’t where his soulmark was located. He wasn’t his soulmate after all.

The rest of the boys had picked up on the tension in the room; the sadness and sorrow filling up the room, like a thick fog covering everything in sight, almost making it hard to breath. There was nothing to be done. All they could do was to continue their lives and pretend nothing had happened. Continue training, become closer, and practice, practice, practice.

* * *

Years went by, and the boys were no longer trainees, but idols in a group, thankfully still together. It had been just over two years since their debut, marking their time as a rookie group as completed. Yunho and San had done all they could to remain close friends, whilst trying to not crush their respective hearts. It had been hard on San. That much was clear. Yunho had learned about a year after they debuted that San had actually been born without any soulmark. Knowing this made Yunho sad, but also somewhat relieved. He was sad, sad because that ultimately meant that no matter what he did, said or thought, San was not his soulmate and never could be; Yunho had a soulmark, San did not. Yet he also somehow felt relieved. He felt like an ass for thinking it, but he felt relieved because he knew that this also meant that no one else deserved San. No one else would be the one destined to share their life with the sweet boy. He knew it was a horrible thing to think, that it was twisted and evil. To be relieved over something that caused someone he loved pain. He could never tell anyone that.

Ever since they met, San had been trying to deal with his feelings for Yunho. He had confided in Wooyoung, the two of them having hit it off like platonic soulmates almost right off the bat – Yeosang had been a bit apprehensive, until he learned that the other had no romantic feelings for his Wooyoung, but rather for someone else, someone he could never have. Both Wooyoung and Yeosang had felt for him. Wooyoung had even encouraged San to pursue a relationship with Yunho, regardless of their lack of matching soulmarks. Honestly, it wasn’t like San hadn’t though about it. It’s not like he was destined to be with anyone anyways, and it had felt so right to be in Yunho’s arms. The way his hand had brushed over his shoulder blade as he caught him, his surprisingly strong arms enveloping him, sending a warm and fuzzy feeling out throughout San’s entire body. It really did feel like he had been struck by one of Cupid’s arrows, just like that. However, deep down, he knew that this would never be a reality for them. It was, after all, taboo to be in a long-term relationship with anyone other than you intended soulmate, and San knew that he absolutely couldn’t just have a fling with Yunho. It would crush him. But what he wouldn’t give, just to feel Yunho hold him like that again. Thinking about it made the tears that had begun forming in his eyes fall slowly down his cheeks. Tears that San hadn’t even notice where there, until he felt a warm and gentle hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he was met with a concerned-looking Seonghwa, and Hongjoong not far behind, looking just as concerned, if not even more so.

“It’s about Yunho-yah, isn’t it?” Seonghwa asked, his voice soft as feathers, as his hand went from San’s shoulder, and up into his hair, gently caressing the younger in a comforting manner, “You love him, don’t you?”  
“Yeah,” San answered, his voice breaking, much to his own embarrassment, yet he couldn’t find it in himself to care, “It felt so right, and I feel so stupid for even, for e-even considering it. I m-mean,” San paused, sniffing a bit, trying to contain a sob, “I’ve known all a-along that there is no one for me out t-there. No s-soulmark after, after all.”

“Oh San-ah,” Hongjoong said, joining the two others, enveloping them in a hug, “There is someone out there for you, Sannie. It might not be Yunho, but somewhere out there, there will be someone who is just right for you, even if you don’t have a soulmark. You aren’t destined to be alone; you know that.”

They stayed like that for a while. Seonghwa’s arms wrapped around San’s shoulders, one hand in the younger’s hair and the other lying against his cheek, and Hongjoong’s arms wrapped around Seonghwa and San’s middles – one arm for each. It felt nice. Not the same as Yunho, but still nice.

* * *

Christmas and New Years passed, and Valentine’s Day came closer and closer. The time of year both Yunho and San dreaded the most. Happy soulmate couples were everywhere. Wooyoung and Yeosang were especially clingy, just like Hongjoong and Seonghwa. It wasn’t like they never acted like a couple, but during Valentine’s they were more… Clingy. Jongho had made it his personal mission to gag violently at every given moment when the groups resident couples were sitting together, or just generally being somewhat closer than on a regular basis. Also worse during Valentine. As bad as it might have been, they were slowly learning to cope. By no means did that mean that it didn’t hurt anymore – because it did. But the soul-crushing, heart-wrenching, gut-dropping pain of being denied the only thing they truly and desperately wanted, was slowly becoming a more subtle hurt. Subtle like loss. After a long time, you learn to cope. That was exactly what San was feeling. Like he had lost the single most important person in his life; that his heart had been ripped out and trampled on, yet now time was slowly doing its thing. The jabbing pain where San was convinced his heart was supposed to be, and had been long ago, would still plague him every time we saw Yunho; every time the older smiled at him, when he touched him, handed him a water bottle after an intense workout.

* * *

Before either of them knew it, even Valentine’s Day had passed – if only barely. It was two days after Valentine’s Day, on February 16th that they found themselves sitting in the dorm living room, all eight of them, on a night off. They were enjoying each other’s company; eating good food, talking, playing dumb games both on and off the various different consoles present in their dorm. After all of them had lost an embarrassingly high number of times to Mingi on Rainbow Road in Mario Kart, the boys had begun talking about their first times meeting each other, and what it was like. To no surprise, it was Hongjoong and Yunho talking the most, as they remembered meeting the most people for the first time. For the others, they were meeting multiple people at once, and first impressions could be hard to distinguish. However, something changed, as they began talking about meeting San for the first time. As Wooyoung was laughing whilst retelling San’s first moments in the practice room, and how he nearly faceplanted within the first minutes of meeting them, something Jongho said struck Yunho.

“No but really,” the maknae started, a teasing smile on his face, “I for sure thought San-hyung would have broken his finger when he fell on Yunho like that.”  
“What do you mean break his finger?” Hongjoong said, already sounding alarmed as if it was something that had just happened now. For the supposed ‘father’ of the group, Hongjoong sure knew how to turn into a mother hen when injuries or even possible injuries became the topic.

“When he fell,” Mingi cut in, effectively cutting into Jongho’s now-none-existent-speech, “When he fell, his pinky finger graced over Yunho-yah’s chest as he fell. The way it bent backwards I thought for sure it would have broken, maybe even dislocated.”

“Why did you never say anything?” Both Yunho and Hongjoong exclaimed at the same time, earning a confused and slightly offended look from Mingi, as he held his hands up in surrender.

“Where on my chest… Where on my chest did he- did he?”  
“Right here,” Mingi said, as he got up from his spot on the couch and pressed the tip of his finger against Yunho’s chest. All color drained from Yunho’s face in only a few seconds, all his attention going from the finger pressed against his chest, and directly over to San. His beautiful, talented, funny, loveable and smart San, who was sitting on the floor, looking like a confused kitten.

“Jongho did-“ Yunho could barely string together a proper sentence, emotions running wild inside his mind and body, “did you happen to- happen to notice where exactly I touched San? First that is. It was his arm, right? Right!?”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t-“

“It wasn’t his arm,” Seonghwa spoke up, cutting of their maknae, resulting in Jongho looking over at him with the most offended look he could muster. Really? Twice? “You touched his shoulder blade. I’m sure of it. I saw your hand slide against it, like your finger. Only for a moment though. I didn’t think any of it since- well… Since I didn’t see him touch your chest, only your arm and nothing… Nothing lit up I-“

“Shh,” Hongjoong hushed his soulmate, as he pulled the older into a hug. He was clearly distraught as he had begun putting two and two together. How had he not noticed? It should have been obvious with the way their hearts were crying out for each other for years. It was completely classical for soulmates who had met and touched each other, but for one reason or another decided against pursuing a relationship. It always ended in heartache – more like heartbreak. A condition that could be lethal.   
“W-what does this mean?” San asked, his voice small and clearly unsure of what exactly was going on. What was the big deal? Sure, he had touched around the area that Yunho had his soulmark, but he still didn’t have one himself. It couldn’t mean anything. It couldn’t.   
“San-ah, take of your shirt please?” Wooyoung said, looking the other dead in the eye.  
“What? No that’s embarrassing, I don’t want to-“

“Just take it off goddammit!”

Before San could do much protesting, Wooyoung was on him, pulling his sweatshirt off of his body, and forcefully turning him around. He leaned down, all the way down to San’s body, his face practically glued against his shoulder blades, trying to find something. Anything.

  
“There!” Wooyoung shrieked, his voice going all the way up in pitch, making the other’s wince, “I found it! It’s there, it’s there! Yunho-yah! Get your ass over here and lose the shirt!”

Yunho moved on autopilot, not really thinking, just doing as the younger commanded.

Once he sat down beside Wooyoung, his shirt pulled up to reveal his chest, Yunho’s eyes immediately fell on the mark Wooyoung had pointed out. It looked exactly like the one on his chest. It was identical. Literally. It was small, almost completely unnoticeable. Especially if you weren’t actively searching for something so tiny. It looked more like a mark from a fingernail than anything.

“Please,” San started, his voice heavy with emotion, “Please tell me you aren’t joking. It would be cruel. S-so, so cruel.”

“They aren’t, San-ah,” Yunho said, tears escaping his eyes. He gently turned San’s body around so they could finally look at each other. They were both crying. For the first time in years, their hearts were bursting with something other than pain and loneliness. It was like everything that had been broken and wrong before, was now miraculously becoming alright again. How, neither of them knew. Neither of them could bring themselves to care, as Yunho placed his hands gently onto San’s cheeks, before leaning in and connecting their lips for the first time. All those corny and cliché romance novels, always talking about fireworks when soulmates kissed for the first time; it wasn’t like they were wrong, but their descriptions did not do the real thing justice. As Yunho’s tongue slipped into San’s mouth, he was met with an overwhelmingly sweet taste, mixed with the salty tears trailing from both of their eyes. It was an undeniably happy moment; happy tears for the first time in a long, long time.

The others filled out of the room, wanting to give the two some privacy. They had a lot to talk about, and them being there playing audience might not help. Neither San nor Yunho noticed that they had been left alone in the living room, too caught up in each other. They were lying together on the couch, San snuggled up against Yunho’s chest; one of his arms around San’s waist, effectively keeping him as close as possible, whilst the other was running gently through San’s hair. Their lips connected again and again, the only thing making them part was the need to breath. They had finally found each other. They could finally have each other. To have been born into this world over twenty years ago, and to have walked around for just as long, thinking, believing that something was wrong with you; that there truly were no one out there for you. It had been devastating. It had only worsened when he actually met Yunho. The guy his heart, his body, mind and soul wanted oh so desperately, but society dictated he could not have. Who it turned out he could have, and could have had for years, if only someone had noticed his soulmark before.

However, none of that mattered now. They were finally together. They would be able to spend the rest of their lives together, doing what they loved, with the people they loved. Nothing could ever beat that. Never.

_From the day of the universe's creation and beyond,_ _  
Through the infinite centuries and beyond,  
In the previous life and maybe the next too,  
We're eternally together._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed it! This is something very very different from what i usually do, so feedback would be especially nice on this one 🥺
> 
> Kudos and comments are as always very much appreciated, as they really do help with the motivation. 👉🏻👈🏻
> 
> And on that note, if you want the come and follow me on Twitter, and scream about Ateez and various ships with me. My DM's are always open, and so is my cc. I love talking with you guys 🥰
> 
> Twitter: @xxpetitesanxx


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